Velodyne Digital Drive Plus 18 subwoofer Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Ittok tonearm; Spectral cartridge; Day-Sequerra FM Reference Signature tuner.
Digital Sources: Bryston BCD-1 CD player; Bryston BDP-1 digital transport with USB-2 flash drives, external USB hard drive; Bryston BDA-1 D/A converter; Netgear WN-350 wireless router connected to BDP-1 via Ethernet.
Preamplifier: Bryston BP-26.
Power Amplifiers: Mark Levinson ML-2 (monoblocks), No.334, No.27.5.
Loudspeakers: Quad ESL-989; B&W DB1, JL Audio Fathom f113, Velodyne DD-18 subwoofers.
Cables: Digital: Bryston, Hosa AES/EBU; Wireworld Starlight coaxial S/PDIF. Interconnect: Mark Levinson Silver, Red Rose Silver One, Totem Acoustic Sinew single-ended, Pure Silver, Bryston balanced. Speaker: QED X-TUBE 400, Pure Silver R50 biwire double ribbon, Ultralink Excelsior 6N OFHC, Coincident Speaker Technology CST 1.
Accessories: Bryston Universal Silver BR-2 Remote, Torus RM-20 Power Isolation Unit; ATI SLM-100 analog sound-level meter. Listening room: 26' L by 13' W by 12' H (semi-cathedral ceiling), moderately furnished with sound-absorbing furniture. Left wall has large bay window covered by Hunter Douglas Duette Honeycomb fabric shades. Rear of room opens through 8' H by 4' W doorway into 25' L by 15' W kitchen.— Larry Greenhill

COMPANY INFO
Velodyne
345 Digital Drive
Morgan Hill, CA 95037
(408) 465-2851
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
DeepBass's picture

 

In my opinion the following is what I experienced when I owned this Velodyne DD 18 + sub. I sold it the fact the old Velodyne HGS 18 inch sounded to me significantly much better in all aspects. In fact the new DD 18 + seems not to move air, not play loud, not go deep, sluggish with no punch like the old Velodyne was famous for. In fact if you push it, it appears to  distort! So what is left? A big price tag, a shinning heavy box to move around exaustively trying to get any bass out of it where I just could not get any deep bass or even bass out of it in my experience. I was disappointed as it appears to me that Velodyne seems to censors their customers reviews. Don’t consumers need to know what other customers have experienced? Thank god for Stereophile! After reading the Home Theater review I end up buying 4 VTF-15F HSU subs and got the deepest tight controlled bass, punch, musicality and speed without any distortion or boominess. The bass sounded thru the HSU much more even thru the room than thru the one Velodyne, the HSUs create a sense of expanding the bass beyond the walls, with less apparent distortion and simply seems to wipe out the DD18+ in all other aspects, hands down. With all the glossy shine finish, the complicated technology and the cost of the DD18+, it seems that HSU go for the real thing of what you are essentially paying for: DEEP BASS!

By the way you end up keeping a saving of $2,000 in your wallet as the 4 HSU are less than $4,000 when the Velodyne is much more money for less bass.

lcarliner's picture

In the past when I had a high end system and my beloved double pair of KLH-9 full range electrostatic speaker system driven by high powered OTL tube amplifiers and the Berning TF10 pre-amp, my favorite "Kipsch killer" demo was the double base concerto by Ditters von Dittersdorf! On almost every speaker system of the past, instead of hearing bowed string detail in the lower bass region, what I heard was the equivalent of a bowed version of the old-fashioned Hammond electric organ! It would be interesting to use a variety of titles that would challenge the ability to reproduced live unamplified bass detail!

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